Transactions, december 27, 2013

     Pine Brook Country Club, a 60-year-old facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is expected to have new owners by the end of the year. Lynn Murphy and Lynette Matthews-Murphy agreed to buy the private club from their fellow members last month, at a price that hasn’t yet been disclosed. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the prospective owners have hired Signature Real Estate to oversee an overhaul of the property’s clubhouse, food-and-beverage operation, and 18-hole, Ellis Maples-designed golf course. Sutton Slawter, Signature’s president, told the newspaper that the planned course renovation “will be aesthetically-pleasing and will return the course closer to its original design.”

     An entity affiliated with the University of Louisville has reportedly “reached a deal” to acquire Cardinal Club, a facility whose centerpiece is a Spencer Holt-designed golf course. The club made its debut in 2001, as part of a chain known as University Clubs of America, and it’s served as the home of the university’s golf teams since that time. U of L Card Game reports that the university group will buy the property, in suburban Louisville, Kentucky, from Tom Musselman’s Champion’s Way LLC. Champion’s Way bought the club from Arnold Palmer Golf Management in 2003.

     A home owners’ group in Newport News, Virginia has closed on its planned purchase of Kiln Creek Golf Club. “We now have the opportunity to control our own destiny and protect home values for our residents,” the president of The Villages of Kiln Creek Owners’ Association said in a comment published by the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily. The association paid $3.5 million for an 18-hole, Tom Clark-designed golf course, an abandoned nine-hole course, a 15-room hotel, two restaurants, and the usual recreational amenities. The assets acquired by the association reportedly have an assessed value of $6.3 million. The seller was Dick Ashe, who’d hoped to build houses on the defunct nine-hole course. The home owners will maintain the track as open space and may put a conservation easement on it. Affinity Management has been hired to operate the golf course, which will be open to the public.

     If the city of Middletown, Ohio winds up selling its municipal golf complex, it may not have many options to choose from. Only one prospective buyer, Howard Jackson of Midd Cities Partners, showed up at the open house for Weatherwax Golf Course, a 36-hole facility that reportedly loses about $150,000 a year on top of $250,000 in debt service. Middletown, which is broke and desperate, wants to sell the complex so it can focus on “core city services,” according to the request for proposals it recently issued. Midd Cities is a local real estate management firm with industrial and business parks in its portfolio. Jackson told the Hamilton Journal-News that his company planned to maintain the golf courses, which were designed by Arthur Hills, and called Weatherwax “a good fit for us.” The city is accepting proposals until January 15, 2014.

     A group of more than 100 home owners in rural Norfolk, Nebraska have reportedly raised enough money to buy the centerpiece of their community. The Eldorado Hills Community Association won’t say what it agreed to pay for Eldorado Hills Golf Club, but earlier this year the sellers, Eric Waddington and Mark Mooberry, were asking for $1.4 million. The club features an 18-hole course that opened in 1987. The association, a non-profit group, was aiming to take possession of the property in early December. It plans to lease the course to Dave Johnson, its pro.

     Twin Lakes Golf Course, a non-operational 18-hole golf course in Arab, Alabama, may soon be purchased and revived by one of its former superintendents. “I’m pretty sure this is going to happen,” David Chastain told the Arab Tribune. The newspaper reports that Chastain and the course’s owner, Bill Pike, “essentially have agreed upon the details of a possible deal,” although no specifics have been revealed. Pike has been down this road before, however, and a sale is no sure thing. He bought Twin Lakes in 1973, sold it in the mid 1990s, and, as the mortgage holder, took possession of it again in 2010. Since then, several prospective owners have come and gone, including one who wanted to build apartments on the property. The golf course has been closed since 2011. If Chastain follows through on the purchase, Pike has agreed to provide financing.

      The city of Edinburg, Texas is negotiating to buy Ebony Hills Golf Course, a track that it’s operated via a lease for the past half-century. “It makes great sense,” the city’s mayor told the McAllen Monitor. The city expects to pay about $2.25 million for Ebony Hills, which features a nine-hole layout that opened in 1927. By buying the property, the city controls its future. The mayor believes that municipal operation is “a service for the community, to provide a quality of life.” The course’s owner, a group led by William Minyard, believes that the property is worth more than $4.5 million.

     The end is near for Cypress Bay Golf Club, a 41-year-old facility in Little River, South Carolina, as the club will breathe its last breath on February 28, 2014. Cypress Bay has been sold to Mungo Homes, which intends to replace its Russell Breeden-designed golf course with houses. The Myrtle Beach Sun-News reports that the course occupied “the low end of green fees in the Myrtle Beach golf market.” Mungo bought Cypress Bay from a group led by Ralph Teal, a local developer. The price wasn’t disclosed. Teal’s group owns Wild Wing Plantation, a 27-hole complex in nearby Conway.

     Just days before Christmas, Tom Day signed on as the new owner of Elks Country Club in West Lafayette, Indiana. The property will henceforth be known as West Lafayette Golf & Country Club, a name that echoes the one it was born with, West Lafayette Country Club. Day, a long-time member, didn’t disclose the purchase price. However, he told the Lafayette Journal & Courier that he plans to create a “family-oriented” club with golf, swimming, and tennis options. “I believe the community needs something like this,” he said. The club says that its 6,256-yard course was designed by Bill Diddel and opened in 1930. Other sources say the track was designed by Pete Dye and opened in 1940.